Street indicating and advertising device for motor vehicles



Mar. 13,' 1923.

` P. RADOCCIA.: STREET INDICATING AND ADVERTISING DEVICE FDR MOTORVEHICLES.

? SHEETS-SHEET l.

FILED SEPT. 24. T921.

Mar'. 13,1923.

P. RADOCCIA.

. STREET INDICATING AND ADVERTISING DEVICE FOR MTGRVEHICLES.

l2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FILED SEPT. 24.1921.

. Emaille/1Macc@ 1mm/w43 Patented Mai'. 13, 1923.

PASQUALE RADOCCIA, or rRovIDDNCE, RHODE ISLAND.

copi?r i 'otrifcsa'` W einem het saetta 2a iaai- Serial it moet To allwhom t may concern:

Be it known that L PASQUALE Raooooie, a citizen of the United Svt'teegresiding at Providence, inthe county of Providele and State of RhodeJIsland,` have Yiiivented oertain new and usefulflmprovenients in aStreet' indicating yand Adverteiig Deyee foi Motor Vehol'eefoi Whiohithe/"following is a spe'cicat'ion. A i

This'invention relates to a etreet indicatoil for trolley oaie'or'otheiyehioleeaiid has for its" objeot'to Provide a eiliiple add effectivemechanisml in which a'ribbonfo suitable material is mounted to be woundfrom one roll to another,l and having indicated upon its'lfiC in spacedapart relation the names` of the different Streets of the routetravelled, and to provide'a rnotor which is energized byy contact withInernbers lof cated upon the trolley wire to operate` the ribbon rollsand bring into view'the name of the next street which i the car isapproaching.

A Jfurther object of the invention is ,to provide an electricallyoperated motor connected to each roll for operating them independentlyof eac-h other, to wind the ribbon alternately on these rolls by a stepby step action.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby themotormay he inamially operated, when deeii'ed ihdependent of the powerreceived through. the trolley.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction, as Vwill he more ullyfdeeoiihett ahdhaitioiiiariy Point-.ed oiit iii the appended clairns.

lln the accompanying drawinge:

Figure l ie a Sdeeleittii ,Showing a portion of a street car in `sectionimproved street indicator device inounte'd in the center ,thereofsupended 'the ing.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the C levice showing the roll casing.broken away toilliue` trateth/e operating nnec'haniein within.

Figure, 3 iS, a Side ele'yatioii of 'iiediieed size illustrating theeasing as. Provided., with a plurality of openinos through which threeserved; also showing spaces at either lend of thel casing upon whichadvertising Inatter may be displayed. n

Figure 43s' a Sectional 4view online 1-4 Figure? p `h`igi1ife`5 is a.Side elevation Showing a del` tail oi the mlo'toi in( the form of aSolenoid ooiineoted hy'a eiihlol tapeY Lto' an operating diilih; aiid apawliaiid ratehet vm'eehanieiii by which' 'the' drum is connected tothel( fiving jackshafh ignite 6 also shows. the motor and the drum;y andfnnaddition Shows the ,Coil-.Spring connected 'to the drum fforv rewndingthe tape thereon when' ,the motor has' .been deenergized, afteralloiieretilig'stroke- Figure? is a detail lhis'tiatine moans for ringingay bell eaoh'tiiiie ythe motor' is energized., to ,Call the attenttioii`ofthepasseneers to. the Harrie of the etieet heilig approaohed Figure 8isa detail Showing the trolley as having two eide arrneand4 a bracketlo@` cated upyo'nthe trolley-wire .extending to one Side 'thereofih'poeitioii to hel engaged hy 011e' 0f the tiolleyatiis'upoiiPaSSilgfalSo showing an vin'dependent circuit ladaptedto y be closed thecar conductor by energizing each ofv the "motors'independent of eachother and also independent of the trolley cirut.

' ith reference to the drawings, l() designates the 'trolley-.Wireonwhicli supported contact inelnbers ll'a't intervalealng'the Same, eachcontact being preferably "pro-' videdl with a iiegible wipingnienber`12, and

these contacteA are usually placed' midway between 4the crosestreets oftheroute upon which the'v car`'ie'trav/ellii1g;l or theyinay be placedat any otheibdesired*pointe'along the trolleyaaa et the tettitrouw-.pale '1a i have' @Whitehead projecting cane tact time .15.@95116; aS heet ilhiatrated iii Figure Si Se that oath time, the trolleyiiaesee one otf'tho, hraoiet'e" 11 iiiv ,elodie ifn one diret# tion, acontactis made thro-ugh thearrn l5l i0 @enthielt .the oiilreht thetolleyvyiie ihroiighytire 17 tothe, motor l'to energize the @tolerated'Pieeleitly des.o'iibs'ad iii 'olie 19, to energize the motor 2O and sooperate the indicating mechanism in the opposite di rection.

In the construction of my improved indicating mechanism, l provide`an"'upper roll 21, and a lower roll Y22, bet-Ween which the ribbon orstrip 23, of cloth or other suitable material extends to be Wound from.one roll onto the other as they are alternately actuated by theirrespective motors. This ribbon is preferably designed to carry the namesof the different streets on the different routes at spaced apartintervals along its length, but any advertising or other matter may alsobe carried thereby. These rolls are mounted to be rotated between twovertically disposed frame members 40, the lower roll having aspring-pressed center 24 at one end and to its shaft 25 at its oppositeend is connected a ratchet toothed clutch member 26 which is engaged bya corresponding clutch member 27on the end of the jack-shaft 28.

ylfhis clutch member 27 is provided With an annular groove engaged byone end of' the lever 61, pivoted at 62, the opposite end of which leveris connected to lever 63, the free end of the latter extendinginto thepath ot pin 64, in solenoid core 39. It will, thereiore, be see-n thatWhen the core 39 is at the end of its outward movement, the pin 64 willengage the lever-63 and in turn move the lever 61 to withdraw the clutchmember 27 from the clutch member 26, thus reeing the rollers so thatthey may be operated in an opposite direction by the other drivingmechanism, if'necessary, and also to free the rollers from any vibrationor movement of the operating parts, in order that the rollers may remainin their adjusted positions.

The inward movement of said core on its operating stroke releases theclutch member 27 to move under influence of its spring 29 intoengagement With its clutch member 26 to drive its roll.

(ln this jack-shaft vis mounted a ratchet gear 30, which is engaged by apavvl 31 providing a detent to prevent a backward rotation of thisjaclrmshai't When the roll is rotated in reversed direction.

@n this shaft is also mounted a large gear 32, engaging small gear 33,the latter being provided With laterally extending pins 34..adapted toengage a. spring pavvl 35. to

ring the bell 36 each time the rolls are rotated to bring into view thename of anYM other street. V y On this jack-shaft is also mounted a drum37, about which is wound a flexible tape 38, the free end of saidtapevbeing connected to the core 39, of the solenoid magnet 18, whichserves as a motor Which, when energized, causes the drum to rotate onits shaft. In order to connect this drum to this shaft, to rotate theshaft in one direction only, l have keyed a ratchet gear 41 to the shaftand have mounted a spring-pressed pawl 42, see Figure 5, on the drum sothat a viorvvard rotating motion of the drum rotates the shaft throughthis paWl. and ratchet.

. In order that this drum may be rotated back to normal when released bythe motor', I have provided a coil-spring 43, see Figure 6. one end ofWhich is connected to the hub of the drum, Whilethe opposite end iscon`- nected to the member 44, Which is liXed to the roll-casing 45. Bythis construction of mechanism it Will be seen that each time the motoris energized the roll is rotated,

and that when the motor is `cle-energized the drum automatically reWindsthe tape read, for another rotating operation upon its ro l 22. Theupper roll 21 is also provided with a sprin -pressed center 46 atoneyend, and on its s aft 47 at the other end is mounted a ratchet clutch48, which clutch is engaged by a corresponding spring-pressed clutchmember 49 mounted on the jack-shaft 50. The balance of the operatingmechanism mounted upon this jack-shaft 50 is an exact duplicate of thatmounted upon the jackshaft 28 of the roll 22, whereby the energizing ofthesolenoid 2O on this side of the casing operates the upper roll 21 toWind the street indicating ribbon from roll 22 back upon the roll 21when the car is moving in the opposite direction.

In some instances it isl desired to provide guide-rolls 51, over whichthe ribbon 23 may be conducted for the purpose of carrying itsdisplaying center portion back into substantial alignment With the axesof the rolls 21 and 22. All of these rolls and the operating mechanismare preferably enclosed in a icas ing 45, having its tvvo parts hingedtogether at their lower edge at 52, and provided With a snap or catchmember 53 at their upper edges for retaining them in closed position.

The side Walls of these casing members are each provided With an opening`54, through which the matter displayed on the ribbon 23 may he observedYfrom either side of this casing, so that a single casingmay be providedand supported in the middle ol the car, as illustrated in Figure 1, andthe matter on the ribbon may be observed through these openings 54 fromeither side thereof.v

All about each ott the openings l have provided mirror flanges for thepurpose of reflecting the matter displayed upon the ribbon.

In some instances it is desired to provide specially constructedadvertising display surfaces 56 at the ends of the casing, asillustratedin Figure 3; also a plurality of openings 5? may be formedthrough each side wall of the casing so that a number of di'erentstreets or other matter may be displayed through said openings.

In some instances it is desired to provide means whereby the conductormay operate the rolls independent of the electrical operating motor. Toaccomplish this I have provided operating handles 58 on each of It willbe noticed that by the use of the spring-pressed centers 24 yand 46,that these may be readily pulled out to permity the removal of the rollswhen a fresh ribbon is to be mounted to take the place of the old one.This is of advantage when a car is required to run on different routes,which in practice is found to be often the case.

The foregoing description is directed solely toward the constructionillustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve theprivilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the deviceis susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by theterms of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a street indicator of the character described, a ribbon carryingmatter to be displayed, a roll upon which said ribbon may be Wound,means for actuating said roll including a drum, a flexible member woundabout said drum, an electric motor connected to the free end of saidflexible member to rotate the drum when the motor is energized, meansfor automatically disconnecting said actuating means from said rollafter each driving action, and means for rewinding said flexible memberon said drum after each operation of said motor.

2. A street indicator of the character described, a ribbon carryingmatter to be displayed, a roll upon which said ribbon is to be wound,means for actuating said roll including a drum having operativeconnection with said roll, a paWl and ratchet mechanism between saiddrum and said roll,fwhereby! the latter may be operated in one directionby the movement of the drum, a flexible member Wound about said drum, amotor connected With the free end of said flexible member, whereby thedrum is rotated when the motor is set in motion, and a spring `forrotating said drum in an opposite direction for rewindin said flexiblemember thereon after each e ective operation of said motor.

3. In a street indicator as set forth in claim 2, further characterizedby said rewinding s ring being placed under tension for rewin ing theflexible member on the drum When said drum is rotated bythe operation ofsaid motor.

4. In a street indicator of the character described, a ribbon carryingmatter to be displayed, a roll-shaft upon which said ribbon may bewound, a jack-shaft, a springpressed clutch connecting said shafts, adrum connected to said j ack-shaft through a pawl and ratchetmechanism,whereby the jack shaft is rotated in one direction by saiddrum, a flexible member woundv upon said drum, a motor connected to saidmember, whereby the drum is operated to rotate said jack-shaft When themotor is set in motion and a spring for revvinding said flexible memberon the drum after each effective operation of said motor. y

5. A street indicator, as set forth in claim 4:, further characterizedby means for locking said jack-shaft against rotation except in onedirection.

6. In a street indicator, of the kind described, a pair of spaced apartrolls each mounted on a shaft, a ribbon carrying matter to be displayedadapted to be wound alternatively upon said rolls by a step by stepaction, independent actuating means for each roll-shaft, each of saidactuating means comprising a jack-shaft, a spring-pressed clutch memberconnecting said jack-shaft with said roll-shaft, a drum freely mountedon the j ack-shaft, a pawl and ratchet connection between said drum andjack-shaft, whereby the latter is rotated in one direction by said drum,a flexible member wound about said drum, a motor connected to saidmember, whereby said drum is operated to rotate said jack-shaft when themotor is set in motion, and ya spring for rewinding said flexible memberon the drum after each effective operation of the motor.

7. A street indicator, as set forth in claim 4, further characterized bymeans for automatically operating said clutch member to disconnect saidshafts after each effective operation of the motor 8. A streetindicator, as set forth in claim 6, further characterized by means'forautomatically operating said clutch member to disconnect said shaftsafter each effective operation of the motor.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

PASQUALE RADOCCIA.

ionsv

